


monopastel fools

by mikararinna



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Classic Bad Boy and Soft Boy Trope, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, but with a twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28809912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikararinna/pseuds/mikararinna
Summary: On campus, he was known as the campus bad boy Na Jaemin. With his leather jacket and sleek black motorcycle, it was hard for the ladies to not swoon over him. But in front of his crush, he was Nana the klutz. The fool who tripped over his own two feet because his crush smiled at him.Well, to be honest, who wouldn't fall head over heels over pastel sweetheart Huang Renjun?
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Comments: 20
Kudos: 243





	monopastel fools

**Author's Note:**

> HERE'S MY 2ND CONTRIBUTION TO THE RENMIN COMMUNITY HI I NEVER KNEW I'LL BE SIMPING OVER THEM THIS HARD
> 
> fun fact, i wrote this with 2 thoughts in mind: jaemin hot ass mf and renjun ethereal  
> this has been up for a few days but n e ways drop some comments i crave validation ty 😔
> 
> now with [spanish](https://www.wattpad.com/story/259980640) translation!
> 
> treat me to coffee [here!](https://ko-fi.com/mikararinna)

"Hey, hey! Isn't that Na Jaemin?"

"Oh my god, it is! Goodness, he looks hotter up close."

"Oh heavens, have I been blessed? I bumped into Na Jaemin before my quiz. I'm going to ace my quiz,"

Jaemin tried to suppress the smirk threatening to inch its way on his face. He slightly turned his head towards the group of girls that had been eyeing on him. They gasped, holding their breath as the male glanced their way. Jaemin raised an eyebrow at them and he had barely turned away when he heard their muffled squeals. 

Oh, what fun it was to be the campus famous bad boy who shamelessly flirt with others.

Na Jaemin was what the public loved to call a bad boy. He wore leather jackets in the middle of summer, all black all day. He walked around campus with this mysterious and confident aura. He flirts with any living piece he saw. And, for the cherry on top, owns a rad motorcycle that he rode to campus with.

He was, quite literally, the picture of a bad boy. 

Except, he only fits the image physical wise. If you asked his friends who Na Jaemin was as a person then they would probably answer you along the lines of, a chaos, an idiot and a soft sweetheart who wouldn't hurt a damn fly. 

Because yes, Na Jaemin flirted with others. But no, he wouldn't lead them on neither would he hurt their feelings intentionally. And yes, Na Jaemin looked aloof and uncaring but most of the time he was just daydreaming and wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. That was just his resting face, and not his true emotions. Na Jaemin very much cared for the people he loved, thank you very much.

But people didn't know that. People only knew of bad boy Na Jaemin. Leather jackets, big motorcycle and aloof personality Na Jaemin. 

Which Jaemin didn't think was bad per se. People assumed who he was based on his physical appearance. Yes, he was sad that they didn't want to get to know the real him. The Na Jaemin that cuddled a bunny plushie to sleep because his best friend gifted it to him. But he was very much satisfied with the bad boy image they have given to him. 

Because Na Jaemin could be a shameless flirt but he preferred to be left alone and not be swarmed by strangers. 

He was an introvert okay? You really couldn't expect him to want to be interacting with people all day. 

"Nana!" 

Jaemin stopped in his tracks. 

Well, interacting with his friends was an exception. 

Jaemin turned around, watched as a male wearing a baby blue bucket hat stopped right before him. 

And, well, if he were to interact with people all day long, Huang Renjun was definitely the top and only person in Na Jaemin's list. 

"Hey," Jaemin greeted, trying hard to not smile at the way Renjun looked at him with stars in his eyes. 

He ignored the hushed whispers of their onlookers. 

_"It's Renjun! I saw Renjun and Jaemin on my way to my next class. Heavens, it_ is _a good day!"_

If Jaemin was the campus bad boy, Renjun was – Renjun was perfection. 

Somewhere, somehow, Jaemin could hear their other friends sighing at him, telling him that he was being biased. Whatever. Screw them. Renjun _is_ perfect. 

Huang Renjun was the opposite of Na Jaemin, appearance wise. 

He wore pastels, had this soft boy aesthetic going on, kind of into astrology and again, he was perfect. His eyes always curved perfectly when he smiled. They twinkle too. Jaemin had no idea how that was possible, but he believed that Renjun held a whole galaxy in his eyes. His hair was a pretty lilac that surprisingly fit in with the baby blue bucket hat he wore. A contrast to Jaemin's black hair and black leather jacket.

If you were to ask Jaemin's friends – that was not Renjun – about who Jaemin was as a person, then their answer would definitely be: absolutely smitten over Huang Renjun. 

Because who wouldn't? Renjun was perfection. 

"Where are you heading to?" Renjun asked, having to look up slightly due to their height difference. 

Jaemin tried not to let his blush show. 

Oh, Huang Renjun was absolutely adorable. 

"The cafeteria," Jaemin answered. "I'm waiting for my next class."

Renjun's eyes lit up. Jaemin was sure he was going into cardiac arrest. "Me too! Lunch together? I think some of our friends might be around too," 

"Sure thing," Jaemin said and fell back into step as they walked together to the cafeteria. 

Jaemin met Renjun in freshman year, courtesy of his childhood best friend and said childhood best friend's classmate. 

It was a long chain of mutual friendship to begin with. 

Jaemin moved to Seoul for college with his best friend of 8 years, Lee Jeno. They took different courses and tried to fit each other into their hectic schedules. Jaemin introduced Jeno to his classmate, Yangyang during one of their hangouts while Jeno introduced his classmate – and good friend now, apparently – Donghyuck. They clicked and a few days later Renjun came by, introduced to them by Donghyuck. 

His first impression of Renjun was cute. And Jaemin should know then that that was _not_ a fleeting thought. 

Because in the span of a year and 11 months of their friendship, Jaemin's initial thought of Renjun being cute had blossomed into oh, he looks great in that pink sweatshirt. Somewhere in between it turned into 'huh, maybe I have a crush'. And from what Jaemin expected to be a fleeting crush turned into 'perhaps I like him a little a lot'. 

You would think that would be the end of it. 

Oh, no. Definitely not the end of it. 

Because sometime during semester break of sophomore year, Jaemin woke up from his sleep in cold sweat, with only one thought in mind. 

I think I might be a teensy weensy in love with my best friend. 

"You think?"

"Teensy weensy?"

"Dude, it took you this long to realize?"

Were the exact response given to him by Jeno, Donghyuck and Yangyang when he came to them with this predicament. Renjun had been away for his test or something and Jaemin had thought that it was a good time to confide in someone. Or some few. 

He didn't expect to be heavily judged. 

Surprisingly, none of his friends were surprised that he had a major crush on Renjun. 

"One time, you stared at Renjun and called him the equivalent of Aphrodite."

Well, maybe if Jeno realized that Renjun was just _that_ stunning-

"He had just thrown up after drinking too much, Jaemin."

"Shut up, Yangyang. I just think he was beautiful that one time,"

"Not just that one time though-" 

Yes. Maybe Jaemin thought of Renjun as beautiful more than once. But who wouldn't? Renjun is stunning and beautiful in every way. So really, Jaemin should be the one who was not surprised that his friends caught onto his crush before he did. 

He was, quite plainly, really fucking obvious about his crush on Renjun. 

Obvious to his friends but not his crush though. 

Which was, thank god, something that he didn't have to think about. Because at least Renjun didn't know that Jaemin had a massive crush on him therefore their friendship would not be jeopardized. 

But here was the thing. Even if their friendship was not on the line, Huang Renjun would absolutely not be interested in Na Jaemin. 

Why, you asked?

Jaemin present to you, exhibit A:

"Shit," Jaemin muttered out a curse as he missed the last step on the flight of stairs and toppled forward. 

How did he manage to oversee that step and miss it was beyond him. But now he lost his balance and quite almost fell face first if he didn't back track at the last moment. 

"Woah there, are you okay?" Renjun said, steadying him as they reached flat ground. 

Jaemin gave him a wry smile. "Yeah, missed a step,"

Renjun chuckled softly, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're such a klutz, Nana. It's a good thing it's just you and me. Wouldn't want your fangirls to know that the campus cool bad boy is just a clumsy big baby now, wouldn't we?" 

Jaemin gave him an awkward laugh as they continued their walk to the cafeteria. "Yeah. Wouldn't want my bad boy image to be ruin huh," 

Except he _wished_ that it was the whole damn campus who saw him being clumsy. Wanted them to be the one who watched as Na Jaemin almost tripped himself over nothing. And not Renjun who was the one with him when he turned into a clumsy mess. 

Because Jaemin had a massive crush on Renjun, but Renjun would never see him as the cool bad boy the whole campus thought he was. 

Renjun saw him as Na Jaemin, his best friend since freshman year who, for some god awful reason, was a klutz but especially when he was alone with Renjun. 

So there it was. Renjun would not be charmed by Jaemin. 

Not at all. 

"Seeing how Renjun is beaming in joy, I'm guessing that Jaemin somehow managed to trip over nothing again?" Yangyang asked. 

When they entered the cafeteria, they saw Yangyang sitting at one of the tables and decided to head over to him.

"You make it sound as if I enjoy watching my friend's almost pain," Renjun answered, taking a seat. 

"Last week Donghyuck got hammered from a shot of vodka and you snorted at him," Yangyang pointed out. 

" _And_ I helped get him home safely after that." Renjun retorted. 

"Not before drilling into my head that I'm an absolute idiot though," Donghyuck said, appearing out of nowhere. 

He took a seat beside Yangyang and left Jaemin to sit with Renjun. Suspicious. Very suspicious of them. 

Or maybe Jaemin was just overthinking it, he thought as he sat down and stole Yangyang's fries. 

"Doesn't that show you how concerned I am for you as a friend?" Renjun replied. 

"I would appreciate it if you didn't _nag at me_ while I'm already going through a bad headache," Donghyuck huffed. 

Jaemin rolled their eyes at them. This was a normal occurrence. 

Renjun would bicker with Donghyuck all the time – and by extension, sometimes Yangyang too but no one ever understood what they bicker about since they always do it in rapid Mandarin. But Renjun would also absolutely _kill_ anyone who dared hurt his friends. Just because he picked a fight with them five days in a week didn't mean that he didn't care for them. 

(One time, Donghyuck got his heart broken by a guy. Renjun had excused himself for a minute while the rest of them tried to comfort Donghyuck. When he came back, Renjun had already changed into a different shirt. Jaemin didn't know _what_ exactly happened but they never heard from that guy ever again.) 

(Also, fun to note that Renjun had trained in _Wushu_ apparently. So, um, whatever it was that happened, Jaemin could only imagine Renjun looking ravishing.) 

"Jeno's not done yet?" Jaemin asked, after a few minutes had passed and his childhood friend hadn't popped up soon after Donghyuck did. 

"Hm? Oh yeah, he went to talk to the TA about something. Said he'll be quick but eh, I know it's going to take an hour at least." Donghyuck answered. 

"You're so lucky that you still have Jeno as a classmate," Yangyang sighed, dipping his fries in ketchup. "I miss having Nana as my classmate. Nowadays I don't even know what's going on and I can't just casually text him."

"I miss having you as my classmate too, Yangie." Jaemin whined, sympathizing with his friend's concern. 

"Well, maybe if you stop texting in class then you'll know what's going on," Renjun pointed out. 

He was the only one out of five of them who didn't share a course with anybody. Still, Renjun managed to ace most of his subjects and looked like he never had to worry about anything. Maybe he was a witch or something- no, a fairy. Jaemin was convinced he was a fairy because that was the only logical explanation on how he was so perfect at everything. 

"Do you think I've not tried that? Numbers and statistics are just confusing," Yangyang groaned. 

"Well, you are in business." Jaemin said. 

"Maybe I should drop college and audition to be an idol instead. At least the only numbers I would be worrying then would be my MV views," 

"Bet." Donghyuck said, grinning. 

And personally, Jaemin was concerned. Yangyang could be impulsive and when you pair him with Donghyuck then it was two chaos minds colliding. If Donghyuck challenged him, chances were, Yangyang would actually go for it. 

Renjun snorted. "You think this coward would actually do it? He would have been high on anaesthetic if he does end up going for an idol audition." 

"Do you want anaesthetic? I know someone who practiced safe usage of it," Donghyuck started. 

Before Yangyang could answer, both Jaemin and Renjun cut in. "No." 

"Oh come on! He could be worldwide famous if he tries!"

"You guys just don't want me to succeed," 

"I don't want you to potentially kill yourself," Jaemin deadpanned. 

"Seconded." Renjun nodded his head. Jaemin had thought the conversation would end there but he should have known there was no such thing as shutting up the chaos when it came to Donghyuck and Yangyang.

"Jaemren fun killers," Donghyuck said, pouting.

Jaemin paused. He blinked. "I'm sorry, _what?"_

"Jaemren mood killers." Donghyuck repeated as if Jaemin was deaf the first time and not because he had to take a moment to process what Donghyuck said. 

"What the hell is Jaemren?" Jaemin asked. 

"Your ship name!" Yangyang intersected and Jaemin gave him the stink eye. "You know, like a pairing name."

"You can't just pronounce our names individually like a normal person?" Jaemin said as he glanced discreetly at Renjun. 

The other didn't seem to be bothered by it, casually eating his tofu as if their friends didn't try to _ship them together like you know, in those fiction worlds._ Maybe it wasn't as awkward as Jaemin thought it was. 

"It's a hassle and I think-"

"We think,"

" _We_ think it's cute." Donghyuck said, grinning. 

Little shit. He knew about Jaemin's crush – and now with Jaemin fully admitting to it – and he had the audacity to _tease_ Jaemin? Oh, he was so getting it. 

"Well, _I_ don't think it's cute." Jaemin huffed out. He heard Renjun humming softly beside him. 

"Agree," Renjun said and something in Jaemin broke a little at the thought that maybe Renjun didn't see the possibility of them being together.

Whatever. It was just a 'ship name'. Of course Renjun was going to find it weird, awkward and uncomfortable-

"Why can't it be Renmin instead?" 

Jaemin blinked. He turned towards Renjun. 

"You want us to be called _Renmin?_ " Jaemin asked, reeling at the fact that Renjun thought conjuring up a _ship name_ for themselves was acceptable. And maybe fun, for him. 

Renjun merely shrugged his shoulders as he looked at him. "You don't think it's cute? I think the name Renmin is _very cute._ " 

Pretty sure Na Jaemin was malfunctioning at this point. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to assemble a coherent sentence about Renjun's remark. Anything that made it seem somewhere between 'yes, I think it's absolutely adorable and I'm slightly in love with you' and 'you can't just condone our friend's idiotic behaviour!'. But then someone's phone rang and Jaemin snapped out of his thoughts. 

They were quiet as Renjun checked his notification. He sighed before pocketing his phone and packing his lunch.

"Sorry guys, professor emailed; wants to do a review with us in 15 minutes before our quiz this week. Guess I gotta run," Renjun said, already standing up from his seat. 

"It's cool. You're still coming for club right?" Donghyuck asked. 

"Yeah, I'll see you later in the evening,"

"And Friday night?" Yangyang chirped in. 

Renjun laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I'll still go. I better run, the class is quite far. Bye guys, see you!"

And with that, Renjun left their table. Jaemin managed to wave him a meek goodbye before turning back to their friends. 

Donghyuck and Yangyang wore matching grins and he already didn't like where this was going. 

"So, Renmin, huh?" 

Jaemin groaned. 

Renjun still didn't see him as more than a friend. 

Not at all.

  
  
  


Weekends were a great way to unwind. Jaemin loved the weekend. It was a great opportunity for him to roam the streets on foot wearing ripped jeans and a white graphic tee. Having no fear that the white tee would not be dirtied. 

So here was the thing, Jaemin _prided_ himself in being able to keep his white clothing well, _white_ throughout the entire day. 

There would be no spills, no kimchi jjigae, no sweat stains, no _nothing_ on his white clothing by the time he got back to his place after a whole day out. His mother had always called him the 'tidiest child I have ever given birth to' since he was a toddler. To see Na Jaemin with even a little spat of dirt on his clothes were quite rare. Near impossible even. 

Until, well, _today._

Life was good. Jaemin had just left his apartment to go on a little walk he did every other weekend when his assignments didn't drown him. Jeno called it his relaxing session. And Jaemin agreed. 

He would take walks near their neighbourhood, sometimes even venturing to the other town to just, you know, take a breather. He would leave his motorcycle at home and just walk; putting on his most comfortable outfit and enjoy himself. Sometimes he would come across a cute dog; other times a cozy cafè that he would later drag his friends to. 

You could say, it was kind of a hobby of his. 

So today, it was the same. Jaemin had put on ripped jeans and a white graphic tee – because the weather was easily irritable – bid goodbye to a gaming Jeno and went out. His strides were slow and aimless. He just wanted to look at shops through their windows and basked in the sun. 

Or not, actually. 

The weather was unbearable that by the time Jaemin walked through the second alleyway, he went inside one of the shops. 

It was a café and it was cute and Jaemin could _really_ use a large drink of Iced Americano right now. 

So he ordered just that with 8 shots of espresso – his usual order – relaxed a little in the café before deciding it was boring and left the place. He managed to walk a good few streets down, away from his own shared apartment with Jeno to a neighbourhood where Renjun lived in the university provided accommodations. 

Look, this wasn't intentional. 

Renjun just happened to live near his neighbourhood 'tis all. _Obviously,_ if Jaemin walked far enough he would've been in Renjun's neighbourhood. 

And _not_ because his mind wandered far because he thought of Renjun which ended up in his feet taking him here due to muscle memory. 

So that was that. Jaemin was walking, you know, just minding his own business. And there was a park so he went there and again, he was walking. Walk, walk, walk until he heard someone called his name and he stopped. 

Logically, this _should_ have been a scene in a movie. You know, those kinds where the protagonist was having _an inner monologue_ and then their love interest called them so the world stopped for a second for them to have their moment of adoration. 

Unfortunately, this was _not_ a movie. 

Jaemin was _not_ the protagonist, even if Renjun was his love interest. 

Because, at the call of his name by the familiar voice, Jaemin turned around and it should have been – _it should have been_ – a cute moment. But this was not Na Jaemin if he didn't become a loser in front of his crush. 

Because when Jaemin turned around, he did it with a sudden force causing him to _bump_ into someone, startling himself and the stranger _and_ crash the large cup of coffee he was holding onto his shirt. 

The large cup of coffee. With the eight shots of espresso. The one that looked more like a black hole than a drink. Onto his white shirt. 

Jaemin could describe it as embarrassing. 

Not because half of the park noticed the incident. No. Jaemin could care less about them. 

But the one who called him – his crush, _the_ Huang Renjun who was beautiful and perfect in every way – clearly saw that. 

The stranger had apologized profusely but Jaemin had shrugged him off. Because it wasn't their fault that Jaemin got excited at Renjun noticing him _and_ calling out for him in a park full of other people. So the stranger left and Jaemin stood there with an almost empty cup of coffee with a coffee stained shirt. 

He had managed to break his streak of untouched white clothing. 

All because of one, Huang Renjun. 

"Your shirt-" Renjun said when he reached Jaemin. 

Jaemin sighed. "I am aware." 

"That doesn't look ideal," Renjun muttered. 

Jaemin agreed. How could it look ideal when Jaemin stood here with a stained shirt in front of an untouched Renjun with his lilac silk shirt? 

"Your apartment is a good few streets away though,"

"Yup."

"Hm, do you want to come to mine?" 

Jaemin blinked. He was malfunctioning again. "Your- your apartment?"

He had been to Renjun's apartment before but only a handful of times. Renjun shared his apartment with two other housemates that neither of their friends were mutually close with. Most of the time, their friend group would hang out at Jeno and Jaemin's place as they could be as loud as they wanted to.

The few times Jaemin had been to Renjun's apartment was either with Donghyuck or Yangyang, or all of them together. So having Renjun invite him to his apartment, just him, was a lot to take in. 

Granted, Renjun's housemates might be there but a man could fantasize. 

"Yeah. I can give you a spare t-shirt or something. You're not going to walk around in that right?" Renjun asked him. 

An idiot would answer that this could be part of a fashion statement. Coffee stained shirts sounded like something someone would wear. But Jaemin was not an idiot. So, the logical answer to this would be: 

"You're right, I'm not gonna walk in this. Is it okay if I come over to your place though?" 

It was also starting to get sticky under the shirt too, okay? It wasn't like Jaemin was desperate to hang out with Renjun. 

Not at all. 

"You think I would care? Come on, I'm lending you one of my shirts." Renjun said and tugged Jaemin by the wrist as he brought them to his apartment.

It was near the park, which explained why Renjun was there in the first place and why he told Jaemin to come over to change his shirt. When they entered the apartment, Jaemin noticed how quiet it was, as if no one was actually living there. 

"Your housemates aren't home?" Jaemin asked, taking off his shoes and stepping inside. 

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Xiaojun went on a date with his boyfriend and Lucas has work." Renjun answered nonchalantly, placing his shoes on the rack. He looked up at Jaemin, smiling. "My room's the first one to the right, if you remember."

Maybe he shouldn't have had that coffee. He was starting to malfunction a lot, his brain short circuiting at every word uttered by Renjun. 

Snap out of it, Jaemin, he told himself. There was _nothing_ going on. His friend just invited him to his apartment so he could change into comfortable clothes after he managed to embarrass himself. The absence of Renjun's housemates had nothing to do with Renjun inviting him over. 

Jaemin had been here before so of course he remembered where Renjun's room was. He also remembered how different the interior of Renjun's room compared to his fashion choices. 

His room was simple, minimalistic. White interior with a few succulents and paintings decorated around the room to give it a little colour. 

Jaemin plopped himself on Renjun's bed shamelessly as the other skimmed through his wardrobe for something Jaemin could wear. 

"Ugh, my clothes are kind of small though. Do you think it can fit you?" Renjun asked. 

"Maybe? Jeno could fit my clothes and he's like, bigger than I am." Jaemin answered. "Don't you always go for oversized clothing?"

"I do. They're comfy." Renjun said. 

And cute on you, Jaemin thought. 

Because Renjun was a little tiny, in Jaemin's opinion. Whenever he wore oversized clothing it looked like he was engulfed in them but not in a suffocating way. More like, in an adorable way. With the way his fingers peeked through his sweater paws and sometimes he could flap-flap-flap them with the long sleeves. 

"Are you okay with pastels?" Renjun asked, looking at him. 

Jaemin quirked an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Uh, hello? Campus bad boy who wears all black and leather?" Renjun teased. 

Jaemin rolled his eyes. "For your information, I look _good_ in pink." 

"Really?" Renjun said, grinning. "Then I'll have to see it for myself."

He threw Jaemin a pink short-sleeved shirt. The colour was a bit faded but you could still recognize it as pink. It wasn't something Jaemin would wear regularly but hey, he loved the colour. 

Without thinking, Jaemin pulled up his stained shirt to change. It wasn't until he was buttoning up the shirt Renjun gave that he realized he had gone naked in front of Renjun. The heat that rose over Jaemin's cheek was more unbearable than the heat outside. 

"Huh, you do look good in pink." Renjun commented. 

"Told you," Jaemin replied, sticking out his tongue. 

Renjun smiled. "I'll get you a bag for your shirt." 

He walked away but before he could leave the room, he turned to look at Jaemin. "Do you want to watch a movie together? If you don't have any other plans for today. I kinda stole Xiaojun's Netflix account but don't tell him."

Jaemin grinned. "Only if I get to choose the movie."

Renjun laughed. "Okay, yeah, be right back."

Jaemin watched as Renjun disappeared into the living room. He slumped down, tugging at the ends of the shirt. It smelt a lot like Renjun's cologne or maybe fabric softener? He wasn't sure but Jaemin could easily recognize the jasmine fragrance that Renjun was in love with. It was familiar and it was very Renjun-like. 

A thought struck Jaemin's mind and he had to shrug it off quickly before it overtook his conscience. 

Jaemin would not hold onto this shirt of Renjun's until he possibly forgot that he even lended a shirt to him in the first place. He did not consider it. He did not. 

Not at all. 

  
  
  


"Maybe I should dye my hair pink," Jaemin thought out loud, pen balanced between his nose and upper lip. 

"Maybe you should review your materials," Jeno answered, twirling his pen with one hand while the other flipped the page of his textbook. 

"I did. And I'm tired now. I want to do something else," Jaemin huffed out. "Why are you even studying so hard for? You're a Linguistic major." 

"And you think it's easy?"

"No, it's not. But you're smart so I expected you to take it easy this time around," 

"Nah, I haven't been studying so I'm cramming all of this in the last minute." 

Jaemin raised his head to look at Jeno who was hunched up on their coffee table. The other looked like he was close to passing out. 

Exam seasons were upon them. It was during this time that you could see Jaemin absolutely losing it.

It was a given fact that no student would survive exam season without going partially insane. And Jaemin was one of those students. 

"I want to dye my hair," Jaemin said. 

Jeno hummed. "You're only being impulsive, Nana."

Jaemin sat up. He stared at Jeno, who finally raised his head from his textbooks to level Jaemin's stare. 

"I want to dye my hair." Jaemin said, voice serious. 

"You are not dying your hair." Jeno deadpanned. 

"I am."

"You're not."

"Bet."

Jeno squinted his eyes at the other. 

"You wouldn't dare."

Jeno was wrong. He dared. 

And Jaemin did it. 

"Why must I be the one who dyes your hair?" Jeno sighed out as they sat in the middle of their bathroom.

"Because you have experience." Jaemin answered, staring at his reflection. 

"I dyed my hair once during middle school because I was on my teenage angst phase and you think I have experience?" Jeno asked. 

"Well, more experience than I do." 

Jeno sighed. This wasn't the first time he went with Jaemin's impulsive decision. They had been in the same predicament several times. It was mainly Jaemin's idea most times but Jeno couldn't say that he wasn't a strong contributor to it too. 

"Why pink though?" Jeno asked, brushing the dye on Jaemin's hair. 

Why pink? Pink, pink because- and Jaemin experienced some kind of flashback montage where he saw himself wearing a pink shirt with someone complimenting how good he looked. 

No, not because of that. 

Okay, maybe because of that. 

But Jaemin wasn't going to admit to it. 

"Just because," Jaemin answered. 

"Because Renjun thinks you look good in pink?" Jeno asked. 

Jaemin sighed in frustration. "Will I ever hide anything from you?"

"I've known you for close to 10 years, Nana. I know what you're thinking." Jeno replied. 

Jaemin hummed in recognition. Fair. Jeno knew him like the back of his mind, inside and out. The same goes for Jaemin too. So no matter how hard they try to hide something from each other, the other would know. It was no use hiding secrets from each other. They could tell at a glance. 

"Why don't you tell him you like him?" 

Jaemin snorted. "Dude, he thinks I'm a loser."

"What? What makes you think that?" Jeno asked. 

"Well, for one, I always, _always_ somehow end up embarrassing myself in front of him."

"Ah, yeah." Jeno mumbled, thoughtlessly. "You know, I've never seen you being such a klutz. So why?"

Jaemin shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Don't ask me why. It's like- whenever I see, I just, malfunction, you know?"

Jeno hummed quietly. He probably didn't get it. But that was fine. It was Jaemin being an absolute fool in front of his crush anyways. He had no control of it and he was sure Jeno couldn't help him solve it either, no matter how much he tried to explain.

The silence between them stretched long. Jaemin was close to falling asleep from the relaxing tugs of his hair from Jeno's fingers. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Jeno's ministrations on his hair halted completely.

Jaemin's eyes fluttered open. He didn't even realize he had it close, probably too lost in the soothing feeling of getting his hair played with. 

"Jen?"

"Um, Nana… I don't think you bought pink dye."

Jaemin blinked. "What!?"

He scrambled to pick up the box he had bought from the convenience store near their apartment. "But- but it said pink!"

Pink, as in, it was the brand name. And not the colour. 

In big, bold, hot pink letters the brand name read 'Pinklish' and on the bottom of those words were the colour code, Ashen Blue. 

"Oh no," Jaemin mumbled.

"You didn't read the packaging properly?" Jeno asked. 

"I was distracted!"

"With what?"

Jaemin made vague hand gestures. "Things! Why didn't you notice this earlier? You're the one dying my hair!"

"I just finished reading up the materials for my exams that are just blocks of words. Do you think I have the coherency to distinguish colours?!" 

"Now what?" Jaemin sighed, staring at the mirror. 

That was certainly not the colour pink. It was a bit blue-ish. Since Jeno helped in bleaching his hair too, the colour looked more faded than the one shown on the box. 

"You can rinse it now. You'll have blonde hair with like, blue streaks, I guess? Or faded blue," Jeno said. 

Jaemin stared at his reflection. It was not the colour he wanted but still, it might be karma for him. He should be cramming for his exams, not dye his hair. 

"Leave it," Jaemin sighed. "I'm entering the exam halls with blue hair tomorrow."

"You sure? Coloured hair doesn't really fit your campus bad boy image, does it?" 

"Neither is pink." Jaemin mumbled. "Leave it, I'll rinse it out later. Whatever colour it is, let's just hope I won't regret it in the morning." 

  
  


Renjun gaped at him when he saw Jaemin the next day. 

The colour on his hair was strikingly attractive. It was acceptable. It was neither too glaring nor too boring. It was a perfect shade of blue that was closer to silver in Jaemin's opinion. But he didn't regret it. In fact, he liked it a lot. 

And so did Renjun. 

"You dyed your hair?" He asked. 

Jaemin looked at him in disbelief. "Isn't it quite obvious?" 

"I know, but surprising," Renjun answered. "Blue?"

"Some mishaps happened and I bought the wrong dye." Jaemin sighed out. 

Renjun hummed. "Well, it's not bad. I like it. I like the colour blue. I think this suits you well so I won't say it's a mistake. A blessing, maybe?" 

Jaemin blinked. "Thanks?"

Renjun smiled at him. "Good luck for your exams!" He said, ruffling Jaemin's hair affectionately before running off to catch his own paper on time. 

Later that day Jeno slithered up beside Jaemin in the hallways after his last paper. 

"Should I paint my bike blue?" Jaemin asked, looking at his friend seriously. 

Jeno arched an eyebrow at him. "As long as you don't buy spray cans and drag me to paint it with you." 

Jaemin sighed, tugging at the strap of his shoulder bag. "Bummer," 

  
  
  


Jaemin had a really good memory. He remembered the exact details on how he and Jeno became friends. It became a running joke between them that, even if they didn't meet as childhood best friends, they would still be best friends under similar circumstances. Jaemin highly agreed on this. They were just very compatible and understanding with each other. 

This was similar to how he became friends with his current college friend group. Jaemin remembered well how they became friends. They clicked together, him and Jeno with Yangyang, Renjun and Donghyuck. So really, Jaemin didn't doubt how he became friends with the other three. 

He doubted _why_ he decided to secure a friendship with them though. Particularly, with one, Lee Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck was fun. Loud, charming, a great friend, really. But sometimes he could be very foolish. And Jaemin was fine with his dumbassery, if only it didn't include him. 

"You did _what now?"_ Jaemin asked, staring in disbelief as Donghyuck looked sheepishly at him. 

"Well, you see, I lost a bet with Jaehyun from swim club,"

"And?"

"And, well, the punishment is, I have to clean up the college pool this Wednesday." 

" _And?"_

"And, uh, you see," Donghyuck chuckled nervously. "I might or might not have pitched in your names as the few who would help me clean up the college pool this Wednesday."

"Hyuck, I'm not part of the swim club!" Jaemin said exasperatedly.

"Me neither! I'm a siren, Jaemin but like without the swimming abilities," Donghyuck said. "But you know, I lost a bet with Jaehyun and he's the captain of the swim team so obviously he's going to make me do some stupid punishment like clean the pool.

"So now that's your problem," Jaemin replied. 

"But I pitched in your names as those who would help me out so, uh, it's also considered as your problem too." Donghyuck said. 

"Exactly _why_ on Earth did you drag me into this? It's your bet! I don't even know what it's about," 

"The bet is whether or not Mark would invite me to the swim team pool party last weekend before anybody else,"

Jaemin quirked an eyebrow. "Did he?" 

Donghyuck sighed, looking away. "No. He wasn't even going to the pool party, he went back to Canada! I was played,"

"So not only did you _not_ go to a pool party with your crush _but_ you lost a bet and have to clean up a pool?" 

"In my defense, I still get to go to the pool party and ogle at hot guys." Donghyuck retorted. "Also, Mark's not my crush."

Jaemin looked at him pointedly. 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. "It's complicated, alright? We have… entanglements. Anyways, it's not about me and Mark! It's about how we have to clean the college pool."

" _You_ have to clean the college pool," 

"Please Jaemin? You got to help a bro out," 

"Not my problem." Jaemin answered, hands up in defense. "You're the one who made a bet. _And_ pitched in my name without my consent. I have the right to refuse to help." 

"You're not going to help your favourite person?" 

"I think we all know who my favourite person really is," 

"Darn it," Donghyuck groaned. "And if I'm going to drag your favourite person to help me? Will you be there to help me too?"

"Renjun would literally say that you deserve it and ignore you for the rest of the day," Jaemin deadpanned. "And don't even bother with the rest of us. Yangyang would most definitely roll his eyes and ignore you. Jeno might be kind enough to help but he has me to make sure he doesn't," 

"All of you are hyuckphobic,"

"As a matter of fact, we have dumbassery repellent." 

"Yangyang gets into dumbassery too!"

"He doesn't get us involved." 

Donghyuck grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. "Hyuckphobic," 

"Dumbassery repellent," 

"You'll see!" Donghyuck exclaimed, standing in front of Jaemin. "You'll be doing your assignments in the library later on but then you'll remember how your handsome, charming, nice and kind friend Lee Donghyuck, poor Lee Donghyuck is cleaning the pool under the scorching sun. Then you'll think, oh my dear friend is suffering. How can I let my dear friend suffer? What kind of friend am I? And the guilt will eat you up so badly that you can't focus on your assignment that you _do_ end up at the college pool, helping me to clean it." 

Jaemin arched an eyebrow at him, snorting. "That's not going to happen."

Donghyuck smirked. "Bet." 

Jaemin pinched at the bridge of his nose, taking deep breaths as the words on his laptop seem to swim around. He blinked, opening his eyes to stare at the screen, only to have the image of Donghyuck sweating buckets as he scrubbed on pool tiles appearing on the screen. Jaemin cursed under his breath. 

He was starting to be convinced that Donghyuck was some type of a siren or a witch. A magical creature, definitely. Because there was no way in hell that Jaemin would have felt this empathetic over Donghyuck doing his lost bet unless the other had positively cursed him into thinking about it. 

He picked up his phone, dialing a number he had memorized all too well and waited for the other to pick up. The library was mostly empty and Jaemin had chosen a spot far from anyone else. As long as he wasn't talking too loudly then it would be fine for him to make this call. 

"Where are you?" Jaemin asked, not even bothering with pleasantries. 

"Hm? I'm on my way to my next class. What's wrong?" The other line answered and Jaemin couldn't unhear the unmistakable sound of ruffling and walking. Right, Jeno had classes, Jaemin didn't need to convince him to not help Donghyuck, the universe already decided it for them. 

"Did Hyuck tell you about his plans today?" 

"His lost bet with Jaehyun hyung? He's cleaning the pool now, isn't he?" Jeno said. "He asked me for help but I have classes and then basketball practice after this. Why?"

Jaemin groaned. 

"Is the guilt of not helping him eating up at you?"

"I swear he must have put a curse on me." 

Jeno laughed. "Or you've always been too soft with your friends, Nana." 

"Should I help him?" Jaemin asked. 

"It's up to you, but knowing you, you'll feel awful if you don't." Jeno answered. 

Jaemin sighed. 

"I think Renjun's helping him though?"

Jaemin perked up at this. "He is?"

"Yeah, I guess? I bumped into him earlier and asked him what he's up to. He said to potentially murder a friend by drowning him. So I'm guessing he's helping Hyuck," 

Jaemin hummed. "I'm not keen on bathing in my own sweat though," 

"You're either going to be at the pool because you're going to help Donghyuck or because Renjun is there."

"I can't let my crush suffer in this heat!" Jaemin exclaimed. "I don't care about Donghyuck."

"Sure you don't," Jaemin couldn't see it but he was sure Jeno rolled his eyes at him. "I'm entering my lecture hall. Text me if anything happens,"

"Alright. See you at home?" 

"See you. Also, you're cooking today."

Jaemin didn't get to have the last word when Jeno ended the call. He sighed, slumping against his seat. He looked out the window, seeing how the sun was shining blindingly. There was no way Jaemin was stupid enough to spend the rest of his day under the heat. 

But Jaemin was stupidly concerned and cherished his friends. So there was that. 

"Hey loser!" Jaemin called out when he arrived at the outdoor pool. 

The pool was void of water and from inside of it, a messy brown haired Donghyuck popped his head out. 

"Nana does care me!" 

"I don't want you to die of heatstroke," Jaemin said, taking out a canned drink from his plastic bag and tossing it over to Donghyuck. 

The other easily catched it, opening the can and taking big gulps. Jaemin could see how tired he was, the sweat dripping down his head in steady flow. Maybe it wasn't such a bad choice to help his friend not die in the heat due to _his_ own bad choice. 

"You alone?" Jaemin asked. 

"Injun's here. He went to get more cleaning supplies from the store." Donghyuck said. He climbed out the pool, jumping in place in front of Jaemin. "You really came to help me?"

Jaemin looked at him in boredom. "No. I came here to make sure Renjun doesn't drown you." 

"He wouldn't,"

"I wish he will."

"I wish I can too," They turned around to see Renjun coming over with an armful of cleaning supplies. "But he's my soprano mate and I really don't want to change him with Kang or whoever." 

Renjun unceremoniously threw the cleaning supplies on the ground. He picked up a brush then turned towards Jaemin. "Are you here to help?" 

"I brought drinks," Jaemin said, handing him the plastic bag from the convenience store. 

"Just drinks?"

Jaemin sighed, rolling his eyes. "And a helping hand." 

Renjun grinned, bright. Brighter than the sun, actually. "Welcome to the club." 

Jaemin made a noise. He threw his bag somewhere far from the pool, where Renjun and Donghyuck's bags were. He took off his rings, placing them in his jeans pocket before folding the end of jeans up. 

"I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure Donghyuck put a curse on me or something, hypnotizing me to help him."

"Told you I was a siren,"

"Wait, hold up." Renjun said and Jaemin turned towards him. "You're helping us in that?"

Jaemin blinked, looking down at his black graffiti t-shirt and ripped jeans. "Yes?" 

"Yeah, no, you're going to be very uncomfortable." Renjun said. He walked over to his bag, pulling out a set of clothes and handing it to Jaemin. 

Jaemin looked at him, surprised. "Do you just, casually bring spare clothes to college?" 

"When you have two idiot friends named Liu Yangyang and Lee Donghyuck you'll learn to be prepared." Renjun said, walking away. "I'm grateful that at least you and Jeno are functional. Now go change so you can help us scrub the algae and we can go home faster." 

"Woohoo! Pool cleaning buddies," 

"Shut up, Hyuck or I'll actually push you into the pool."

"...With, like, water in the pool, right? There's going to be water _in_ the pool before you push me right?"

"Maybe." 

"Renjun… my soprano mate…"

"Another word and I'll consider switching you for that Kang girl or whoever." 

Cleaning up the pool was tiring. It was a big pool, one the swim team uses for practice and sometimes inter-college competition so it was fairly large for only three males to clean it up. But it was better than nothing and Jaemin could see the gratitude reflecting from Donghyuck as he continuously thanked them, promising to treat them for food later on. It was scorching and Jaemin complained a lot but as they filled up the water, it was hard to be too annoyed about it. 

It was, oddly, fun. This was something he has never done before and even if he still wanted to smack Donghyuck over that stupid bet he made, at least Jaemin gained a new experience. 

"Now all we have to do is put in the chlorine tabs, make sure it's good and we're set to head home," Donghyuck said, peeking at his phone screen. "And just before five too! What great teamwork we have," 

"I'm so tired," Renjun groaned from beside him. 

Jaemin smiled, letting more water be filled into the pool. "Just a bit more, then we can leech off Donghyuck's wallet." 

Renjun hummed, resting his cheek on Jaemin's shoulder. Jaemin stiffened slightly but gained enough of his bearings to calm down over the close position they were in. 

"Before we leech off his wallet, we should really let him suffer a bit," Renjun said. 

"Should you push him into the pool while I hide his spare clothes?" Jaemin asked. 

"And that is _if_ he has spare clothes." 

Jaemin looked at him and Renjun had this sparkle of mischief. It was partly sinister, maybe a little mean but it was still dazzlingly beautiful. Perhaps Jaemin was a bit biased but pranking his friends had always been fun, especially if that friend was Donghyuck who made him spend a Wednesday noon cleaning the college pool. 

"He can swim. The sun will probably dry up his clothes faster than the Laundromat's dryer."

Renjun grinned, removing himself from Jaemin and patting his shoulder. "That's all the approval that I need." 

Donghyuck was crouched down at the other side of the pool, testing the chlorine level with much concentration that he didn't notice Renjun approaching him quietly. 

"Yes, I got it!" Donghyuck exclaimed as he stood up just as Renjun pushed him with full force.

"What the-!?" Donghyuck screamed, splashing into the water as he lost his balance. He resurfaced from the pool, attempting to get rid of the hair clinging to his eyes. "Renjun!"

"Told you I would do as I say," 

"I'll have my payback!"

"We're already even, loser!" Renjun said, sticking out his tongue at Donghyuck. Jaemin laughed, amused and was about to leave them at it when he caught Renjun's gaze. 

The mischievous glint of the other hasn't dimmed down. But instead of Donghyuck, it was directed at Jaemin. He blinked, eyes wide as he realized what the meaning behind Renjun's bright grin was. 

"You promised that I wasn't involved in this!" Jaemin yelled from the other side. 

"I didn't say anything of that sort!" Renjun yelled back, grin widening. He took a step and Jaemin braced for his life. 

He was an athlete back in school so running wasn't a chore but running near a pool was. Jaemin tried so hard to avoid the puddles while making sure he was safe from the grasp of Renjun. But Jaemin wasn't Jaemin if he wasn't a fool. Especially a fool for Renjun. Because the sound of Renjun's laughter, carefree and clear in the summer air was enough to make him distracted. 

It was as if a siren call got him stupefied that he stepped onto a slippery tile, splashing right into the pool. 

He could hear Donghyuck's cackle ringing loud and Renjun's laughter didn't seize either. 

"Oh, Nana the klutz!" Donghyuck hollered when Jaemin resurfaced. 

"I didn't even need to push you," Renjun commented, amused as he crouched near Jaemin. 

"I'm wet now," Jaemin sighed, looking at him.

"Clearly. It's a good thing I brought that spare clothes, huh?" Renjun said. He held out a hand towards Jaemin. "Come on clumsy baby. Let's get out of here and get chicken." 

Jaemin pouted, reaching out to hold Renjun's hand. Rationally, he should have just let Renjun pull him _out_ of the pool. It would save them a lot of time and they could get to that chicken date faster. A chicken date with Donghyuck too but, oh, details. 

However, instead of being rational, Jaemin chose to be playful. And so, instead of getting pulled out, he pulled Renjun into the pool. 

The other let out a shriek, water splashing around them as Jaemin still held a tight grip on Renjun's hand. When he resurfaced, Renjun didn't look too happy while Jaemin positively beamed. 

"Jaemin, I trusted you!" 

"Sorry, cupcake but everyone deserves a good dunk,"

Renjun groaned, ready to retaliate before Donghyuck came over and splashed him with more water. 

"Hey! Hyuck!" Then there was a series of shrieks and screams as they chased each other in a pool, splashing water forcefully. 

And if Jaemin was hypnotized by a siren call, he didn't mind that the melody was to the sound of Renjun's laugh.

  
  
  


"You know it'll be easier if you just confess, right?" Jeno told him as they lounged in their living room. 

Jaemin hummed, not bothering to look up. "You know he doesn't see me that way, right?"

"And why would you say that?" 

"He literally calls me Nana the klutz,"

"He thinks it's cute."

"He thinks I'm an embarrassment."

"He has never said that,"

"And neither has he said that I'm cute." 

Jeno sighed. Talking to Jaemin was like talking to a wall. The other was stupidly stubborn, refusing to take the advice of even his longest friend in the group. Honestly, Jeno couldn't understand what was it that hindered Jaemin from confessing to Renjun. 

"So you can flirt with girls in the hallways but god forbid you confess to your crush?" 

Jaemin raised his head. He squinted his eyes at Jeno, making his best annoyed face at the other. "It's not the same."

"It's two and two together, campus bad boy," Jeno shrugged. "One is you not returning their feelings, another is you _actually_ having feelings for someone." 

"Why are we suddenly talking about this?" 

"Because I'm tired of you pining." 

"It has never bothered you before,"

"Well, it is now," Jeno sighed out. "Look, Nana, when was the last time you've been this smitten over someone? Maybe before we entered college? I just want you to be happy." 

"I am happy," 

"Happier if you get to date Renjun." 

Jaemin rolled his eyes. "It has never bothered me that I'm not dating Renjun. So really, stop worrying your pretty little head. Just because I'm pining over him doesn't mean I'm miserable. I'll live." 

Jeno fixed a scrutinizing gaze at him. "If you're sure of this."

Jaemin grinned. "Yeah. I'm not a mindless idiot who gets jealous of everything. I'm fine with how Renjun and I are now." 

  
  
  


Maybe Jaemin should learn to mind his words next time. Not to make sure he didn't offend anyone. As far as he was aware, Jaemin had never offended anyone. No, not about that. But he should really mind his words so he didn't jinx himself. 

Because as he walked down the hallways, catching the sight of Renjun with someone else, Jaemin couldn't help the bubbling of jealousy. 

He wished it was something else. Perhaps the excitement of seeing his crush in the hallways; the anticipation of possibly having lunch together; the relief of having finished one of his hardest classes for today. But no. The bitter tinge of jealousy was tasteable at the back of his tongue, barely making itself known. Jaemin could just ignore it, if he wasn't seeing how close the two were with each other. 

Renjun's smile was bright as his eyes squinted in a laugh. The other male was laughing too but Jaemin could really care less. He was cute, admittedly. Had an eye smile like Jeno, but softer on the edge. Jaemin had never seen him before and he was pretty sure he knew all of Renjun's friends. 

Jaemin took a step forward, walking towards them. He almost made it to them when the male Renjun was with, excused himself. He gave Renjun a light punch to the shoulder in which Renjun returned with his own poking. The male walked away, Renjun still smiling brightly as he waved him off. 

"Who was that?" 

Renjun jumped, turning around and looking surprised at the sudden sight of Jaemin. "Nana, you scared me there. That was Shotaro, my classmate. Why?" 

Jaemin shook his head. "I've never seen him before." 

"Ah, well we're not really in the same department so I doubt you would know my classmates." 

"You know my classmate," 

"Yangyang is an exception. We literally have the same mutual friends." 

Jaemin shrugged his shoulders, not really having anything else to say to that. 

"He's kind of cute, isn't he? He looks innocent," Renjun laughed. "He's putting my soft boy image to shame. Oh, whatever. Since you're here, let's get lunch, shall we?" 

Renjun started walking away, not noticing the little breakdown Jaemin was having. 

What do you do when your crush thought someone else was cute? 

  
  
  


"Do you know a Shotaro?" Jaemin jumped into the opportunity to ask when he saw Yangyang in the library. 

Yangyang blinked at him. "Renjun's classmate?"

"So you _know_ a Shotaro?"

Yangyang shrugged his shoulder. "We have a mutual friend."

"Am I the only one who's not aware of this Shotaro?" 

"I doubt Jeno and Donghyuck are either. Is something wrong?"

"Renjun thinks he's cute."

"Huh, can't blame him. The guy is kind of cute," Yangyang said, nodding his head. "But that's like his outer personality or something. You haven't seen him on social media. Dude, he's like, another breed."

Jaemin quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

Yangyang held up a hand, signalling him to wait. He pulled out his phone, tapping on the screen a few times before shoving it towards Jaemin. His phone was pulled up on that 1-minute video app, on the screen was the familiar face of Renjun's classmate. The video played, audio on the lowest volume they could manage in a library and Jaemin watched as Shotaro bust it down to some routined moves. 

"A dancer?" Jaemin asked, looking at Yangyang as he took back his phone when the video ended. 

"Maybe? I'm not sure so myself. We're not particularly close but a lot of people knew him from his dance videos. Kinda popular, if you ask me. He's like that right balance of sweet and spicy," Yangyang answered. 

Jaemin cupped his hands together, resting it on the table. "He's out of my league."

Yangyang arched an eyebrow at him. "Dude, have you seen yourself?" 

"I've seen the floor a lot of times, Yangyang,"

Yangyang hummed. "Fair." 

"Do you think Renjun has a crush on him?"

"Are you hearing yourself right now?"

"Loud and clear. You're right, maybe Renjun does have a crush on him."

"Jaems, I didn't even say anything."

"That explains the closeness. Actually, maybe he has a crush on Renjun too."

"They're classmates-" 

"He's a dancer, right? And Renjun's a singer. Maybe that's why he likes Shotaro."

"I don't think-"

Jaemin stood up abruptly, his chair screeching against the floor, causing Yangyang to wince and the other people around them to give them weird stares. 

"I'm going to make sure Renjun doesn't get his heart broken."

Before Yangyang could say anything, Jaemin had walked away. There was determination in his stance and Yangyang was unsure if he should be amazed or give up. He picked up his phone, dialing a number. 

"Do you know your best friend is an idiot?" 

Jeno sighed from the other line. "I'm well aware." 

  
  
  


Shotaro seemed to make his presence known now that Jaemin knew he existed. He always somehow managed to catch Renjun talking to the other in the hallways. If not, Renjun somehow managed to mention his name sometimes. 

Granted, it was Renjun telling him that he couldn't join him for lunch or some other food hang outs because he had a discussion with Shotaro.

But the _point was,_ Shotaro was quite the presence now that Jaemin knew there was someone named Shotaro who was cute and danced and was friends with Renjun. It really further justified the 'perhaps Renjun liked him' accusation, seeing how close they were. And how Renjun somehow managed to look smitten whenever they were together. 

Jaemin tried not to be bitter about it. Hey, Renjun was a grown man. And when was the last time he dated someone? Jaemin couldn't remember for sure throughout the time they've been friends whether Renjun had dated anyone. It was only natural for Renjun to catch feelings, right? 

Jaemin shouldn't be jealous. Because Renjun was his friend and as Renjun's friend, Jaemin should fully support him. 

But that didn't mean he couldn't be a little competitive. 

It was each man for his own. Just because Renjun might like Shotaro, that didn't mean Jaemin had to push them into a relationship, right? That didn't mean Jaemin had to wait out whenever they seemed to talk for hours in the hallways, right? Which meant that it was completely acceptable for him to stop Renjun from approaching Shotaro in the college courtyard, right? 

He was about to call out for Renjun anyways when he saw that Renjun noticed Shotaro at the other side of the courtyard. 

"Injun!" Renjun turned around, blinking in surprise as he tried to look for the source of the voice. His face lit up when he saw that it was Jaemin and Jaemin heart fluttered a little. 

"Nana!" The cheerful tone in Renjun's voice was hard to make him not fall in love. 

Be strong, Na Jaemin. You have competition and kissing your crush in the campus courtyard didn't seem like fair competition. 

"What's up?" Renjun asked. 

"Oh, nothing really. I saw you and thought I should call for you. It feels like I haven't seen you in a long time." Jaemin said, pouting for effect. 

His eyes flickered behind Renjun, where Shotaro was still standing idly. He played on his phone as if waiting for someone. Jaemin guessed the person was Renjun. 

Well, the guy could keep waiting. 

"Ah, I'm sorry," Renjun said and Jaemin felt bad to hear that the other did sound apologetic. "I've been busy finishing up my assessments. I promise you we can hang out more when I'm done with some of these."

"It's not fair, I miss you a lot, you know?" 

Renjun laughed. 

"Why are you laughing? I'm being serious!"

"Alright, alright. I miss you too,"

Jaemin grinned, satisfied. His eyes flickered towards Shotaro again, seeing the other raised his head up to look at somebody. Shotaro was wearing a pleasant smile when a male walked over to him. The male's strides were confident as he came over and with no hesitation, placed a kiss on Shotaro's lips. Jaemin's eyes widened. 

Oh, no. 

Oh, no no no. 

Renjun couldn't know his possible crush was taken(?), playing with his feelings(?), kissing another guy _literally_ behind his back!? He would be devastated and Jaemin couldn't let that happen. Hell, he didn't know what a sad Renjun looked like and he never wanted to know. 

"Jaemin?" 

Jaemin blinked, turning his gaze back at Renjun. "Yeah?"

Renjun chuckled. "Nothing, you seem a bit distracted there. How about this, we get milkshakes later? I have to finish some discussion with Shotaro then we'll go for that, okay?" 

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." 

"Great! It won't be long. Just wait here," 

At that moment in time, Jaemin was stuck between malfunctioning and trying to play hero for his crush. His body and mind decided to work on auto-pilot, not letting him choose which was the better option. Just as Renjun was about to turn around, Jaemin reached out for him.

"Wait-" 

And again, like a scene in a movie, time stopped. Figuratively, maybe, Jaemin couldn't really think. 

Because Renjun turned towards him and Jaemin stepped forward. But he was, as usual, a fool in front of his crush. 

His body and mind had decided to work on auto-pilot but they also decided to keep the usual settings. And the usual settings involved tripping over nothing, unfolding the next sequence of events. 

Jaemin stepped forward, tripped, eyes wide he stumbled into Renjun. There was a yelp, either from Renjun or himself, Jaemin wasn't sure. But, bless his reflex because even if he foolishly tripped over nothing, his hand was placed on Renjun's head, cushioning it in case it hit the pavement. They fell together, rolling slightly to the grasses while trying to lower down the impact. 

There were groans and painful whines. Jaemin opened his eyes when he was sure that he wasn't falling anymore. When he opened his eyes though, Jaemin wasn't ready for the sight. 

Renjun straddled his hips, hands on either side of Jaemin's head, caging him. His face was in a frown, wincing at the unexpected fall. 

Jaemin's breath hitched. 

He should be more concerned that they just experienced a fall but the sun that reflected behind Renjun looked like a halo. It made him look ethereal, even if, again, they just fell into each other. 

"Renjun?" Jaemin snapped out of it. He turned to the side, seeing Shotaro and the male he kissed near them. 

"Oh, Shota…" Renjun sighed out, taking the hand that Shotaro held out to pull him up. 

Jaemin groaned, pushing himself up with his elbows. He hoped that he didn't have a concussion, but his back did hurt though. 

"Are you okay?" Shotaro asked, fussing over Renjun. Then he turned towards Jaemin. "Are _you_ okay?" 

Jaemin nodded his head, dusting off the grasses that cling onto his head. He shrugged Shotaro off. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" That was Renjun. He sounded so concerned that Jaemin felt bad. He was the cause of their fall, after all. 

"Yeah, I'm sure." Jaemin sighed. "Are you okay?" 

Renjun smiled at him, nodding his head. "Yeah, I'm good. You protected me from cracking my head open." 

Jaemin's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Don't worry, I'm okay, no scratches. Maybe a little bit bruised from the pavement." Renjun sighed. 

"I'm sorry," Jaemin mumbled. 

Renjun shook his head. "It's okay. At least we're both unharmed."

"Maybe you guys should go to the infirmary?" The unnamed male said. 

"Yeah, maybe later. I just needed to give this to Shotaro," Renjun said, handing a USB to the other. Then, he turned towards the male and Jaemin watched him grin. "So, this is the boyfriend, huh?"

Jaemin blinked. He watched as Shotaro blushed as the other male laughed cheerily. 

"Boyfriend?" Jaemin accidentally spluttered out. 

The male looked at Jaemin, smiling and holding out his hand for a shake. "Yeah, I'm Sungchan. Renjun has been friends with Taro since the semester started, I can't believe I'm only seeing him now when he knows I exist. Shotaro sees you sometimes and thinks you're cool." 

"It's because you're always so busy," Shotaro retorted, pouting. Sungchan merely gave him a sweet smile. In a quieter voice he said, "Also, stop exposing me." 

Jaemin shook Sungchan's hand, chuckling nervously. "Right. Yeah, thanks, I guess?" 

"Maybe we should go to the infirmary," Renjun commented, looking at Jaemin worriedly. He turned towards the couple. "Well, I think that's it. I only wanted to hand in that USB since I can't seem to email it to you. We should go now,"

"Sure. Thanks, Jun!" Shotaro said. He glanced at Jaemin, who was still in a daze at the information. "Yeah, I think that infirmary visit is a must." 

Renjun looked at Jaemin, nodding his head. "Definitely." 

  
  
  


"Do you know of a Sungchan?" Jaemin asked, cornering Yangyang. 

Yangyang looked at him, bored. "I see you've met the boyfriend."

"So you knew?"

Yangyang shrugged his shoulders. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Shotaro and I have a mutual friend, who _happens_ to be his boyfriend." 

"So, Shotaro doesn't have a crush on Renjun…"

"And neither does Renjun on Shotaro. They're just friends," Yangyang deadpanned. "Renjun _does_ have a crush on someone else though."

Jaemin blinked. "Who?"

Yangyang grinned mischievously. He tapped at Jaemin's forehead. "How about you use your pretty little head and figure it out yeah? Nana the klutz,"

He was left alone after that, confused and annoyed. 

  
  
  


Jaemin loved his motorcycle. It was a gift from his parents after he graduated high school and got his license. His motorcycle had been a big part of his journey into adulthood, entering college. It had seen the best and the worst of him. 

In Jaemin's opinion, he preferred to drive his bike more than a car. He has a license for both, so driving either vehicle wasn't really a problem for him but he preferred the motorcycle. He got to (safely) speed through traffic, he didn't have to worry about where to park his bike compared to a car _and_ he looked dashing while arriving on campus on his bike. It added flavour to his bad boy get up. 

But, that didn't mean driving a bike to college didn't have its downside. Everything had its downside so this was no less. 

The downside came in the form of grey skies and wet pavement. 

Ideally speaking, there was no way to be safe to drive a bike in the middle of a downpour. He could graze by if it was a drizzle, but not heavy rain. To make matters worse, Jaemin had forgotten his rain gear at home. 

He usually brought it, placed it in a separate bag that he carried inside his laptop bag. But for some reason, today he forgot about it. It was unlike him, to be fair. Even if he was in a rush, Jeno would usually remind him of his rain gear too. Alas, the other had a morning class and headed out before Jaemin did. So there was no one to remind him and now, Jaemin couldn't go home since the sky was pouring and he was pretty sure his bike seat was wet too. (He parked somewhere that was not under shelter protection, great, he guessed.) 

Jaemin sighed. Well, he could kill some time in the library. He was sure the sky would let up soon. 

"Jaemin?" Jaemin turned around, catching sight of Renjun with his yellow sweater vest and cream coloured under shirt. He looked adorable. 

"Oh, hey Renjun," Jaemin greeted, smiling at him. 

"What are you doing out here?" Renjun asked. 

Jaemin shrugged his shoulders. "Well, as you can see, the earth is wet and the sky is pouring. My bike is somewhere in the parking lot but I'm pretty sure the seat is wet. There's no way I can get home in this weather so I'm just chilling.

Renjun blinked at him "Oh, do you want to walk with me then? I have an umbrella."

Jaemin looked at him. "Your umbrella is not going to fit the both of us."

Renjun grinned at him. He pulled out a folded umbrella from his bag, opening it up to a pattern of daisies and chrysanthemums. The umbrella was big, definitely enough to fit in two people. 

"Don't underestimate my umbrella," Renjun told him. 

Jaemin shook his head. "My place is far, Injun."

"Then you can just come over to my place," Renjun argued. "Come on, it's better than staying on campus. You can just get your bike tomorrow or later in the evening. No one's going to steal it."

Jaemin gave it a thought. It did sound like a better option than staying in the library. At least he could ask to take a nap at Renjun's place. The bed was definitely more comfortable than the library tables. 

He sighed. "Fine, let me hold the umbrella." 

Renjun handed it over without much to say. They stood side by side, taking the first step to leave campus at the same time. As soon as they were out of shelter, Jaemin could hear the loud pitter pattering of the raindrops against the umbrella. It was loud and noisy and Jaemin wrapped an arm around Renjun's shoulder to make sure he didn't get hit with the rain. 

The wind was harsh on them. Even with the umbrella covering them from above, the rainwater still managed to cling and soak their shirts. The summer storm was ruthless and Jaemin just wanted to reach Renjun's place sooner so he could get rid of the coldness that was starting to seep into his bones. 

Now, Jaemin would like to think that, rather than clumsy being his trait, it was just that the universe liked playing pranks on him. Take the next moment for example. The strong wind blew at them, almost blowing away their figures. They were lucky enough that gravity had a grip on them. 

But not so much on the umbrella though. 

The wind blew strong, turning the umbrella upside down and bringing a sudden gush of rain that poured onto them. 

"Oh shit-" 

The rain seemed to fall harder and Jaemin pulled Renjun closer to him. "Run!" 

So run they did. Until Renjun's apartment building came into sight. They stepped into the lobby, soaked from head to toe and staining the carpeted floor. 

"Well," Renjun started, looking at Jaemin with his hair matted to his forehead. "Maybe we should have waited on campus." 

Jaemin snorted. "At least we're here now,"

"Yeah," Renjun said, eyes flickering to the side. Jaemin followed his gaze, finally realizing the upside down umbrella. "Oh." 

"Oh no, I'm so sorry." Jaemin said, trying to fix the umbrella. "I swear, why the hell does this keep happening to me?" 

His hands fumbled with the umbrella, trying to pull down the flaps. Jaemin tried to be careful but with his pruney fingers and the still wet flaps of the umbrella. 

"Jaemin, Jaemin-" Renjun tried but Jaemin ignored him, in the hopes that he could fix the umbrella back. There was a giggle then Renjun placed a hand on his own fumbling ones. "Hey, it's okay."

"But it's your umbrella, and it's so pretty too." Jaemin sighed. "I'm so sorry. I don't get why I'm so clumsy all the time." 

"It's okay, Nana. And I think it's cute." 

Jaemin blinked, looking at Renjun. "What?"

"I said, I think it's cute." Renjun repeated. 

"You think, you think my clumsiness is cute?" Jaemin asked. 

Renjun nodded his head. "Yeah? I think it's cute, endearing really. Because everyone on campus thinks that you're this, heartbreaker bad boy who knows no mercy but no. You're Nana, endearing Nana who cares a lot about his friend and is kind and timid and introverted. And maybe you're a little bit clumsy but I think it's cute. It's who you are, Nana the klutz." 

"Huh," Jaemin mumbled, at a loss for word. 

Because what do you say? What _do_ you say when your best friend that you've been having a crush on for so long suddenly calls you cute? What do you say when he points out all the 'little details' of you that you wished people had known about so they would stop putting you as a stereotype? What do you do when your crush looks at you, rainwater dripping down his hair but eyes still bright? 

You certainly don't do what Jaemin did next:

"I think I might be a little bit in love with you," Jaemin blurted out, without remembering to put on his brain-to-mouth filter. 

There was a short pause between the words that Jaemin had stuttered and the next course of action. 

Renjun let out a chuckle, rolling his eyes at Jaemin. "It really took you that long?" 

Jaemin blinked. "What?" 

"Because if you didn't do anything by next week, Yangyang placed a bet that I'll confess first. Guess he lost,"

"You placed a bet on me confessing?" 

"Technically, I placed a bet on us. We're kind of a coward when it comes to confessing, aren't we?"

Jaemin took a moment to process that sentence. "Wait, we?"

Renjun sighed. "Yes, Jaemin. We. I thought the ship name agreement had given you some sort of hint."

"If you've forgotten, I'm kind of a klutz and by extension, a dense person too." Jaemin retorted. 

"Does that include being a fool as well?" Renjun asked, amused. 

"To be fair, I'm only a fool when it comes to you," Jaemin answered smoothly. "So, you, uh, like me?"

"You gave me a pick-up line and then proceeded to stutter out a question asking whether I like you or not?" 

"Answer the question, Injun,"

Renjun grinned, poking at Jaemin's cheeks. "Yes, Nana."

"Okay, okay." Jaemin breathed out. "So, can I be your boyfriend?" 

"Yes."

"Can I take you out on a date?"

"I'll be really disappointed if you don't, honestly." 

"Alright, so this week?" 

Renjun made a noise. "We can have it now, at my apartment, maybe watch a movie and cuddle? That's a date too, right?" 

Jaemin blinked, finally realizing where they were. "Right. I mean, yes, of course. I'll love that." 

Renjun nodded his head. "My place it is then. But, if you want to take me out on an outdoor date then how about this Saturday?" 

"This Saturday? Yeah, this- this Saturday is good," 

"You'll pick me up?"

"Definitely." 

"Okay, this Saturday." Renjun said, smiling. "And wear that pink shirt you never returned. It looks good on you," 

Jaemin flushed a deep red. He chuckled. "Too bad, I might not ever return it anymore."

Renjun shrugged his shoulders. "Fine with me. As long as you let me steal your clothes." 

Jaemin grinned. "Gladly." 

They looked at each other, eyes bright and very much in love. Jaemin leaned forward, lips close to brushing with Renjun. But the moment was ruined when Renjun turned away and let out a sneeze. 

They stared at each other in surprise. 

"We should head upstairs."

"Yes, yes we should."

"Dry ourselves- I- can't believe I'm possibly catching a cold because of you, Nana," 

Jaemin laughed as Renjun pulled at him towards the elevator. 

"I guess I'm not the only one who is a fool,"

Renjun hummed. "Keep it up and I'll leave you shivering at my doorstep."

He wouldn't. Jaemin knew he wouldn't. But just for the sake of his safety he zipped his mouth shut. 

After all, what was there to say when Renjun pulled him into a kiss on his bed after they changed into his pastel sweaters? 

  
  



End file.
